Posted on July 19, 2021 in General Info
The following summarises the main health and safety regulations that apply to blocks of flats. There are many others.
- The duty to comply with the regulations falls on the landlord or person responsible for management which could be an agent, a resident management company or a right to manage company.
- Health & safety should never be ignored or dismissed because it requires additional expenditure as the cost of failing to comply if there is an accident or injury may be far greater than the cost to comply.
Page Contents
Risk Assessment of Communal Areas
All blocks of flats must have a risk assessment carried out on the health and safety of any common areas. It is a requirement of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. You may argue common areas are not “at work” but if any cleaner, gardener, managing agent or repair contractors enters them, then a risk assessment must be made.
Remember to include all areas including gardens, grounds, plant rooms, meter cupboards and lift motor rooms.
If there are no employees of the landlord working at the block there is no requirement to record the risk assessment but it would be “best practise” to do so anyway as if there were to be an accident and you had no proof of a risk assessment being carried out, you are much more likely to be prosecuted and/or sued for negligence.
The risk assessment should be looked at annually to reassess the situation.
Fire Safety
Since 1st October 2006 every block of flats will require a fire safety risk assessment. Again this applies to common parts, not to the inside of any flats and is an obligation on the landlord. Fire Officers will be able to enter any block of flats to inspect, ask to see the risk assessment and issue enforcement notices to improve fire safety should the need arise.
Working at Heights
Work at heights can be at any height if a person could be injured falling from it, even if below ground level.
If window cleaners or other contractors visit a block of flats, then an assessment of the risk from working at height is required.
Part of the duty to assess risk will obviously fall on the window cleaner, but the landlord or his agent once again also has a duty.
The principle is that any work at height should be avoided if it is practical to do it in another way. It if cannot be avoided, then the work must be assessed and planned to be done with the least risk.
Work at height can include changing light bulbs, general cleaning, testing smoke detectors and cleaning gutters. If a ladder is supplied by the landlord for changing light bulbs or checking smoke detectors, it should be checked regularly and a notice stuck on it with safety precautions for its use.
Electrical Equipment Safety
If electrical equipment is supplied by the landlord or agent to say a cleaner, then it must be regularly tested and properly maintained.
A visual inspection and a more formal test should be carried out at the intervals recommended by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Legionella
Legionella is a bacteria common in water systems which can result in legionnaires’ disease.
Once again the landlord or agent of a block of flats has a duty to control the risks of legionella in any pipes, tanks and taps in common parts (including a cleaner’s cupboard).
Cold water tanks, taps and showers within lessees’ flats are the responsibility of the lessees, unless the lease puts repairing responsibility for them on the landlord.
The starting point is a risk assessment usually carried out by an expert, and if there are risks then a written action plan should be produced to reduce the risks.
An annual review of the risk assessment should be made.
Categories
- Building Maintenance
- Cleaning
- Electrical
- Gardening
- General Info
- Our Service
- Pest
- Security
- Uncategorized
- Waste Solutions
Archive
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- August 2023
- April 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- October 2014
- May 2013
- April 2013
- November 2011
- September 2011
- June 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010